Water main break submerges cars, leaves streets full of mud and debris in the Bronx
BEDFORD PARK, The Bronx (WABC) -- Bronx residents are cleaning up from a muddy mess caused by a century-old pipe that broke on Monday night, flooding streets and submerging vehicles.
The 48-inch water main ruptured around 7:30 p.m. on Monday and brought heavy flooding to Bedford Park.
Webster Avenue between E. 201st Street and East Moshulu Parkway South turned into a river. Cars had water up to the side of their doors.
NYPD towed vehicles that were impacted by the flooding from the roadway.
One man was trying to get his girlfriend in one of the apartments on Webster, but it was a challenge.
"I had to run back upstairs because in the lobby, the door was like right here, and the water was a little below that, so it was like three and a half feet up, and it was all muddy water, dark, nasty water," a resident said.
"I went to the staircase, right, and when I got to the second floor, I saw the water in the first floor, and the water was almost at the top," another resident said.
Webster Avenue was completely underwater. Cars were left at a standstill due to the high-pressure gushing water that poured in faster than the area could absorb it.
All residences and businesses in the area have working water service; however, the Bronx Botanical Garden is restricted to limited water service. The Department of Environmental Protection is working to address the water shortage in the garden.
Emergency crews tried to open some drains to push out what crept in.
There was a multi-agency approach to getting the water cleared out.
As people headed to work on Tuesday, they found it a difficult task.
"Look at all these cars here," a resident said. "They can't even move, there's all this mud."
Webster Avenue is closed from East 204th Street to Bedford Park Boulevard.
Gas had to be shut off in 13 buildings and power for a few blocks as a damage assessment was done.
The broken pipe was apparently first installed in 1890.
It took crews until 5 a.m. Tuesday to get the water completely off. Twenty valves had to be turned off, with 145 turns to close each valve
"We had to shut off 20 different valves in order to get those water mains to shut off. We're talking about a 48" water main so from here down is the diameter of the water main. And we've got another 36" water main nearby that we have to be careful in doing the repairs," said Beth DeFalco, DEP Deputy Commissioner.
There are no reported injuries.
Crews are working to determine the cause of the break.
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